10.14.2005
Good books and bad books
Congratuations to Michael Connelly for the successful introduction of a new character with his book The Lincoln Lawyer. The book debuted at no. 4 on overall sales charts this week, the strongest debut on the chart. It did even better when considering only fiction titles, charting at no. 3.
What is interesting to consider is that it did so with sales of 38,000. That's a lot of hardback books for a week, but if history serves, it will represent about one-quarter of the total sold. According to The Book Standard, Connelly's last book, The Closers, sold 46,000 in its first week and has sold 173,000 to date. Given the fairly similar starts, it's probably safe to assume a similar sales arc for The Lincoln Lawyer. It's interesting to note -- though I'm hardly the first to do so -- that a top-selling book's sales are dwarfed by those of other media. Top CDs sell well in excess of 173,000 copies in their first week, while films do that kind of business in a day.
Still, Connelly clearly has cracked the upper echelon of publishing, and has done so with his artistry and integrity intact. He earns great reviews that often talk about how his books transcend the mystery genre, which is a nice segue to something Sarah at Confessions of an Indiosyncratic Mind brings up today. It seems that Ian Rankin -- another great mystery writer who earns backhanded compliments like those often lavished on Connelly -- and P.D. James are calling for more consideration of genre fiction when it comes time to hand out awards.
“For me, there are just good books and bad books," Rankin tells The Times. "Crime fiction thinks out of the box. It gets you thinking about the biggest moral questions you can, whereas ‘literary fiction’ can be quite introspective. The crime novel at its best deals with contemporary social issues in a way that isn’t preaching and is not talking down to people.”
Amen. This reminds me of the rather silly debate about the value of genre fiction that took place at Dan Green's place about No Country For Old Men being beneath Cormac McCarthy's talents because it was a genre book. If the mark of a good book is that it doesn't have a plot, doesn't deal with social issues and can't have recurring characters, count me out. These either/or propositions are stifling and ridiculous.
What is interesting to consider is that it did so with sales of 38,000. That's a lot of hardback books for a week, but if history serves, it will represent about one-quarter of the total sold. According to The Book Standard, Connelly's last book, The Closers, sold 46,000 in its first week and has sold 173,000 to date. Given the fairly similar starts, it's probably safe to assume a similar sales arc for The Lincoln Lawyer. It's interesting to note -- though I'm hardly the first to do so -- that a top-selling book's sales are dwarfed by those of other media. Top CDs sell well in excess of 173,000 copies in their first week, while films do that kind of business in a day.
Still, Connelly clearly has cracked the upper echelon of publishing, and has done so with his artistry and integrity intact. He earns great reviews that often talk about how his books transcend the mystery genre, which is a nice segue to something Sarah at Confessions of an Indiosyncratic Mind brings up today. It seems that Ian Rankin -- another great mystery writer who earns backhanded compliments like those often lavished on Connelly -- and P.D. James are calling for more consideration of genre fiction when it comes time to hand out awards.
“For me, there are just good books and bad books," Rankin tells The Times. "Crime fiction thinks out of the box. It gets you thinking about the biggest moral questions you can, whereas ‘literary fiction’ can be quite introspective. The crime novel at its best deals with contemporary social issues in a way that isn’t preaching and is not talking down to people.”
Amen. This reminds me of the rather silly debate about the value of genre fiction that took place at Dan Green's place about No Country For Old Men being beneath Cormac McCarthy's talents because it was a genre book. If the mark of a good book is that it doesn't have a plot, doesn't deal with social issues and can't have recurring characters, count me out. These either/or propositions are stifling and ridiculous.
